Rail anchor



May 27, 1924'. 1,495,605

W. J. T. M LEAN RAIL ANCHOR Filed June 18. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l May Z7 192 4.

v w. .1. T. M LEAN RAIL ANCHOR Patented ay 27, 1924 WALTER JAMES THOMAS MOLEAN, OF MELBOURNE, VICTO'RIA, AUSTRALIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE M. B. RAIL ANCHOR PTY. LTD.,

CORTORA'I'IO'N OF VICTORIA.

OF MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA, A

RAIL ANCHOR.

Application filed June 18,1923. Serial No. 645,956.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER JAMES THOMAS MoLEAN, subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Melbourne, VIC? toria, Australia, have. invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Rail Anchors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in anchors for application to the rails of a railway in order to prevent or minimize their longitudinal movement, known as creeping, in relation to the rail ties and is especially applicable to one-piece anchors having a vertical body plate with oppositely directed tongues adapted to grip the opposite bevels of the rail flange and with a forward extension at one side to form an abutment arm bearing against the adjacent rail-tie. An anchor-of this type to which this improvement is more especially appli cable is disclosed in United States application Serial No. 620,889, filed by me February 24th, 1923, for one piece rail anchor, al-

lowed January 3rd, 1924. i

The object of the present improvement in such rail anchors is toprovide means wherebythe anchors after" being sprung into posi tion on a rail, will grip the rail flange so securely that, unless a special tool is used,

they can only be removed after fracture or like distortion caused by the application of stresses far more violent than any which could occur naturally.

In this specification the term forwards 36 means in the direction of travel of the train,

and the termoutwards means; in a direction away from the centre line of the rail. These terms being defined, the meanings of the terms backwards and inwards will be 4.0 obvious.

According to the present invention the side of a substantially vertical body plate of an anchor of the type hereinbefore men tioned, having means on each side to grip the opposite bevels of the rail flange, is provided with a backwardly directed spring-grip arm which is adapted to be forced outwardly against the natural spring of the metal, but

without permanent distortion, after the anchor has been positioned on the rail and :whlch is so constructed that when it is thus forced outwardly it will spring vertically over the edge of the rail flange and will continuously press inwardly against the edge of the rail flange as long as the anchor remains 1n position on the rail.

According to the preferred form of the present mvention, the side of the body plate of an anchor of the type hereinbefore mentloned is slotted vertically on the side away from the abutment arm, upwardly ordownwardly, for a portion of its height so as to form a depending or upstanding strip of metal which is integral with the body plate. This strip is bent and turned during the manufacture of the anchor so as to form a third'arm which is adapted to grip the edge of the rail flange when the anchor is sprung into position. While this edgegripping arm 1s especially applicable to a one piece rail anchor of the type hereinbefore mentioned, it could also be applied with advantage to two piece rail anchors of similar general design. The structure of the anchor herein described is such'th'at the anchor may be formed from steel by stamping out, bending, and shaping in one heating operation without any subsequent bending. Such a structure will be referred to hereinafter as an open structure. The phrase without any subsequent bending means without any subsequent permanent distortion by bending as distinct from temporary distortion which would be removed by the natural spring of the metal as soon as the distorting forces 5 cease to act. I

The accompanying drawingsillustrate the preferred form of the invention. In these drawings I Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the anchor in position looking backwards (i. e., against the direction of travel of the train) the dimensions of a rail being indicated by an outline in chain lines; and

Fig. 2 is a plan of the anchor in position, showing the abutment bearing on a rail tie and omitting the rib for clearness. Underlying parts in these figures and in Figure 3 are indicated in dotted lines.

Fig. 3 is a view corresponding to Fig. 2 but showing the anchor prior to its springgrip arm being sprung over the outer edge of the rail and into the operative position shown in Fig. 2. The dimensions of a rail are indicated by an outline in chain line, as in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detail view in side elevation of the abutment in normal position relative to the rail tie.

Fig. 5 is a view corresponding to Fig. i but showing the abutment when forced into close contact with the rail tie.

Figs. 6 and 7 are detail elevational views of the alternative forms of the spring grip= ping arm, the former with an upward and the latter with a downward slot.

Those parts which are indicated by the reference numbers 1 to 11 constitute the anchor forming the subject of prior United States application Serial No. 620889, aforesaid. These parts are formed by stamping in one heating operation from a metal plate 1, preferably of spring steel, and comprise a slot 2, tongues 3 and at undercut to form bosses 7 gripping the rail flange 6, a body plate 5, an abutment arm 8, an abutment 9 inclined forwardly and downwardly in a vertical plane so that when forced against an adjacent rail tie 10 the anchor body is slightly twisted. shown in Fig. 2. and a strengthening rib 11 extending over a portion of the body plate and alnitn'iei'it arm. While this anchor forming the subject of such prior application has been found to be very efficient in practice and cheap in corn struction, it may be further improved at slight additional cost. in accordance with the present invention, by the provision of a backwardly turned edge-gri 'iping arm 12 which is formed by cutting a vertical slot. either upwardly 12*. as in Fig. 6, or downwardly 12 as in Fig. 7, but normally upwardly, near the outer edge of the plate away from the abutment. The vertical cu l extends to approximately four fifths of the height of the plate and is rounded at its endv The integral depending or upstanding metal strip so formed, together with the adjacent portion of the body, is bent backwardly and inwardly so that its end ma spring over the outer edge of the rail. The arm 12 is slightly rounded, as shown in F 2 at its point of engagement with the rail. The anchor is thus adapted to be fastened to the rail with a triangular grip and is so secure when in position that it is practically impossible to move it without a special tool. To facilitate the attachment of the anchor to the rail, the edge of the body which con-- tacts with the rail is cut away at the point 13. The under-cutting of the gripping tongues 3, 4 also facilitates the springing of the anchor into position. Where the arm 12 is formed, as a depending strip it will materially assist in looking the anchor in position even when it is not sprung over the edge of the rail flange but merely bears against the upper surface or bevel of the flange. The plate may be slightly extended on the side where the arm 12 is to be formed.

As there is no permanent distortion of this anchor after its manufacture it may be formed of spring steel or other hard metal whereas any anchor which is permanently bent while being positioned on the rail must obviously be formed of relatively softer and less springy metal. In a tail-locking anchor as previously proposed, the tail-locking or rear arm is inwardly bent when in position to bear against the outer edge of the rail flange. It is obvious that such bending could not result in any continuous or sub stantial inward pressure of the rear arm and such a rear arm would be merely an incrt tail stop as distinct from a spring edgegripping means.

From the foregoing description of this invention it will be realized that this improved anchor may be applied to a rail by one man using an ordinary hand hammer, and that the various processes of cutting out the main slot, forming the bosses, forming the rib, cutting the body to form the edge gripping arm, bending the gripping tongues and edge gripping arm, and forming the abutment arm and abutment may all be performed at one heating of the plate, and the necessity of submitting the plate to a number of different processes in the course of its manufacture may be avoided with ease.

While the preferred form of the invention has been described in detail, it will be obvious that modifications of the invention may be made within the limit of the invention as defined by the claims; but such modifications would be attended normally by some loss of e'lficiency or cheapness.

I claim: I

1. In a one-piece rail anchor of open structure the combination of a body plate having means on each side to grip the opposite bevels of the rail flange and having a forward tie-abutment extending from one side, with a backwardly directed springrip arm extending from the other side of the body'plate and adapted to be pressed inwardly against the outer edge of the rail flange by the natural spring of the rail anchor.

2. In a rail anchor, a stamped, slotted, and bent steel plate having two flange-gripping tongues, a side tie-abutment arm on one side, and a vertically slotted bend on the other side integral with a backwardly and inwardly turned edge-gripping arm.

3. The combination in a one piece rail anchor adapted to be stamped out in one heating operation from steel without subsequent bending, of a gripping tongue on 5 each side of a body plate, With an abutment arm and an abutment both positioned outwardly from the rail flange in use, and a slotted backwardly and inwardly bent body portion carrying a backwardly and inward- 1y bent spring-grip arm adapted to engage the edge of the rail flange.

In testimony whereof he afiixes his signature.

WALTER JAMES THOMAS MCLEAN. 

